The field of this disclosure for selection of an Art Unit to examine this application includes systems, processes and devices for remote control, in communication with consumer devices such as lighting, entertainment appliances, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, laundry, and kitchen appliances. The systems, processes and devices communicate with cloud-based resources via a telephone line (e.g., DSL) or other two-way electromagnetic or optical transmission. One feature of some implementations is enabling conversation; another is transmission of speech or the like.
The home of the future has captured our imagination for decades and probably for centuries. For instance, Disneyland hosted a home of the future from 1957 to 1967, as a joint project of Monsanto, MIT and Disney. In that era, resources were plentiful and computers were expensive corporate devices.
Recently, IBM has published “The IBM vision of a smarter home enabled by cloud technology” (September 2010), which offers a much different vision of the home of the future, one supported by evolving cloud-based analytics. This white paper, which describes IBM's vision of a connected home and of the “Internet of things,” accompanied one or more of the provisional applications and is hereby incorporated by reference.
The evolving vision of the home of the future creates an ongoing opportunity for innovation, for communication devices and home accessories that will improve our lives, control and support the interconnection of our consumer devices with services outside our homes. For some purposes, one can distinguish between consumer appliances (CA) and consumer electronics (CE), distinguishing between appliances such as dishwashers, washing machines, heaters, air conditioners, lighting and the like, versus CE television, entertainment and media center devices. New methods and devices may enhance the service experience of consumers, particularly users of leading consumer electrical and electronic devices.